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Is the best always winning?

Perth, 25th June 2010

The world cup soccer is reaching the end of the group stages and there have been quite some upsets and surprises! France and Italy eliminated, who would have predicted that at the start of the tournament? But winners are always right, isn’t it? Having a great team or great players is not always a guarantee for success! Many factors play a role before success is achieved, form of the day, individual fitness, knowing your opponent’s weakness and little things like luck may determine who wins in the end. Outcome is not always predictable, that is also why betting is so popular!

In lighting design we encounter similar things. It is not always the best lighting designer that wins a contract, a good lighting designer not always delivers the best possible end result. This is because the “little things” that happen along the way. We win a contract sometimes on merit and past track record, sometimes on price, sometimes based on our relationships (remember sometimes it is not what we know but who we know!) We have days were we do brilliant presentations and impress the client with our knowledge, we have days were we somehow don’t have our act together or don’t “click” with a client. It may just the difference between wining and loosing…

When we do our lighting design sometimes the lighting concept works brilliantly in harmony with architecture or interiors, sometimes we just can’t get it right! And it is not always our fault, material choices, unforgiving color combinations, etc, and often uncompromising fellow consultants lead to an end result that is far from its potential. A successful (winning) endresult is the culmination of great team work, understanding of each others work and expertise and making sure it is brought together in perfect harmony.